Citizenship

Curriculum Intent

The Citizenship Department aims to enable students to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for their own lives and communities, by giving them the opportunity to develop an understanding of and take their place in society.  Citizenship is designed to enhance leadership and teamwork skills whilst simultaneously offering enriching and inspiring opportunities for our students.

Citizenship as a subject has never been more relevant for our young people. They are a generation that want to understand how the world is run and play active roles within society.  They want to be part of the positive changes taking place around them and they want to be heard and use their voice for positive action.  This subject is important for developing a strong moral code in students. The knowledge gained in Citizenship links them to the outside world. This opens up path ways and job careers that foster their love of and passions for: British Values, the workings of the justice systems, political systems and democratic systems of government.

At KS3, students are introduced to Citizenship by following the National Curriculum guidelines, which are designed to help students become an active and influential citizen in society. Students follow units of work that: investigate the UK’s membership to multiple world organisations, discover the different rules, responsibilities and laws that we adhere to, and build a strong knowledge base for the democratic system in place in the UK.

At KS4, students follow the Edexcel GCSE Citizenship Studies course. This is structured to enhance the student’s base knowledge from KS3 and put their knowledge into practice by investigating, exploring and drawing their own conclusions on the current situations taking place within the UK and throughout the wider world. Students cover five units at GCSE level; Living together in the UK, Democracy at work in the UK, How the Law works, Power and Influence and Taking Citizenship Action (a group-based project task, designed for students to take action on an issue facing the UK).

All Citizenship lessons are designed to encourage students to develop strong communication and public speaking skills whilst building on their ability to think critically, investigate, examine and evaluate opinions. To ensure the development of these skill levels is maximised in Citizenship, we make use of interactive role and scenario play, group work, debating of documentaries and current affair case studies from the world media and News. The teaching styles, delivery and resources we use in Citizenship are differentiated to support the needs of each student in the classroom. We work with multiple departments to implement common strategies to maximise consistency across the written elements of Citizenship.

In order to apply real life experiences and scenarios to the Citizenship course, we aim to offer many enrichment opportunities that link directly to the content taught. Students will be offered the opportunity to attend the Houses of Parliament, spend time in a charity head office, help in the local community food banks and visit an elderly day centre. Students are also offered the opportunity to visit the United Nations headquarters in New York, as part of the GCSE course. Because part of the Citizenship content is based around the ‘Citizen’s role within the Community’, we invite guest speakers from the community to speak/run workshops with the students.  Examples of guest speakers are members of our local Police force, the local Member of Parliament, Young Offender Officers, and Managers of local charities.  All of these helps foster a strong community spirit and interest in Citizenship based employment.

A Sunbury Manor Citizenship student will leave the school with the ability to express their viewpoints whilst being able to critically evaluate and balance different perspectives. Gaining a Citizenship education highlights that our students do not just exist in society but also take an active interest in their community, country and wider world.  Citizenship knowledge is paramount in transitioning to the next stages of their lives.

The Citizenship Department is made up of two full-time teaching members of staff and is located at the back of the school in a great location for outdoor debating and group action tasks.  Each classroom is well equipped for effective learning. The Citizenship teachers regularly use the ICT suites allowing students to carry out their investigative research tasks. The ICT suites assists the students in their learning, offering opportunities to add case studies to each learning experience. 

Curriculum Overview

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Y7	Role of a Citizen Introduction in Citizenship Running of schools with rules Applying the rules	Role of a Citizen Children’s rights  Convention on the rights of the child	Role of a Citizen Current affairs investigations Advocacy Having a say	Citizens in the community Identity Cultural diversity Mutual respect understanding Barriers to cohesion	Citizens in the community Living together in the community Community service	Citizens in the community Voluntary groups   Charities and pressure groups
Y8	Law and Justice Youths in the media Youth crime prevention Age of criminal responsibility	Law and Justice Rights and the police Police power stop and search Police power interview and charge	Law and Justice Joint enterprise Youth court Sentencing Young offenders’ institution	Rights and freedoms Freedom fighters Power to protest Conflicting rights	Rights and freedoms Media influence Free press Media in society	Rights and freedoms Right to education Privilege in the UK
Y9	World organisations United Nations UN Agencies Human Rights	World organisations  The Commonwealth NATO UN Development goals	Diverse Britain Equality and diversity Discrimination and Equality Immigration British values	Parliamentary Democracy History and structure of parliament Political parities Voting/ Elections	Parliamentary Democracy Gov spending Manifesto Votes at 16 Petitions	Managing Money Types of accounts Loans and debt Pay slips Budgeting
Y10	Living in Britain The changing UK population Migration and its impacts Resect and understanding Identity	Living in Britain Rights, duties and values Development of Human Rights Local government Paying for local services	Democracy at work Parties and candidates Elections and voting systems Forming and organising government The Westminster parliament	Democracy at work Making and shaping a law The Constitution Government in parts Tax and government spending.	Law and Justice The role of law Principles and sources of law Civil and Criminal law The Justice system in England and Wales Courts and Tribunals	Law and Justice Youth Justice Crime and society Sentencing and punishment
Y11	Power and influence Citizens participation Groups and organisations The role of a free press	Rights and responsibilities of the media The use of media for influence Relations with Europe Global situations	Citizenship action Investigating others actions	Citizenship action Carrying out own action	EXAM PREP	EXAM PREP

 

Key Stage 4 Specification